News Bits: Arrrrr! Gaming Factory Buys Pirate Bay

Written by Steve Donohue

Tuesday, June 30. 2009 at 11:55 AM EDT Post a comment

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Two months after the founders of The Pirate Bay were fined $3.6 million and sentenced to a year in jail for copyright infringement, Global Gaming Factory said it is buying the file-sharing site for 60 million Swedish crowns (US$7.7 million).

Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay has long been known for helping Web surfers search for and track Bittorent files, including many Hollywood movies that were pirated. Reminding some observers of Best Buy's acquisition of Napster, GGF says it wants to turn The Pirate Bay into a legal file-sharing site.

GGF said Tuesday that it plans to launch "new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners." CEO Hans Pandeya also told reporters at a news conference that a revamped Pirate Bay site will allow users to earn money by supplying storage space.

GGF also acquired Swedish technology firm Peerialism, which has developed new file-sharing technology. The company expects its acquisition of The Pirate Bay to close in August.

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